An honest difference of political opinion

Larry Tradlener’s commentary entitled “The end of America,” as usual with his rants, tells us more about Mr. Tradlener than about his subject. His ignorance and arrogance are really impressive. His candidate lost an election. Rather than admit that the ideas Mitt Romney espouses failed to convince a majority of Americans to vote for him, Tradlener arrogantly assumes that the voters are either stupid or bribed by “free stuff”. I might say as an aside that many Montezuma County residents might be surprised to hear that the Medicare they paid into for decades is “free stuff,” but never mind. The idea that a majority of Americans might have an honest difference of opinion concerning the candidates than he seems not to have occurred to Mr. T. (To be fair, it seems not to have occurred to Mitt Romney, either given his recent comments.)

Romney lost first because he offered nothing more than a rehash of the failed policies of George W. Bush, whose administration over eight years was marked by the loss of almost 1.8 million jobs, in contrast with the eight Clinton years, in which the US economy added more than 20 million jobs or the Obama administration, when the economy added 3.7 million jobs [source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics]); second, because he aligned himself with the most extreme social conservatives on the subjects of rape, abortion, contraception and immigration. Americans generally hold much more moderate positions on these issues than Mr. Romney.

The United States faces a number of serious challenges, not the least of which is to get federal expenditures and revenues in better alignment. I am profoundly grateful that the majority of my fellow citizens chose President Obama to lead the effort to meet those challenges.